Self Assessment

Assess your own comfort and experiences - by completing the:

Cross Cultural Issues in Medicine: Student Views Questionnaire

Culture Sensitive Interviewing Tools

1. Kleinman's Questions

You may have heard the term "Patient-Centered Interviewing". This is a generic interviewing approach that can be used with all patients. This approach elicits the patient's perspective on their illness and health care. Patient-Centered questions elicit patient and family member's beliefs about 1) the cause of the illness; 2) fears related to the illness; and, 3) expectations about treatment.

Arthur Kleinman, PhD is a Medical Anthropologist who pioneered much of the work in this field. We encourage you to use this patient-center approach when working with your patients. See attachment for Kleinman's Questions.

2. Genogram Template: A Family Medicine Assessment and Treatment Tool

No doubt you learned about genograms in the context of genetics. Did you know that family physicians routinely use genograms to gather patient information and organize patient histories?

Genograms are used to document family patterns of health and illness. Information including 1) family structure; 2) prevalence of physical and mental illness; 3) quality of relationships; and, 4) cultural heritage are just a sampling of the types of information you can find on a genogram. Many genograms also include a timeline where critical events such as births, marriages, divorces, immigration and deaths can be documented in a chronological sequence.

We encourage you to use genograms when conducting your patient interviews. This visual aid will assist you in understanding the richness, depth and complexity of your patients and their respective families.

We have provided you with a Genogram Template for you to use during your clinical encounters.

For information on how to read and interpret genograms see:

Like RC, Rodgers J and McGoldrick, M. Reading and interpreting genograms: A systematic approach. Journal of Family Practice, 26:407-12; 1988.

For detailed instructions on how to construct a genogram see:

McGoldrick, M and Gerson R (1985) Genograms in family assessment. W.W. Norton & Co.; New York.

Culture Specific Knowledge and Information Resources

A third approach to increasing your cultural competency skills requires that you learn about the specific practices and characteristics common to specific cultural groups.

1. EthnoMed

EthnoMed is a web site that provides clinicians with information on specific cultural groups that are common to the Seattle area. You will find cultural profiles on Amharic, Eritrean, Oromo, Somali, Tigrean, Cambodian and Vietnamese cultures. EthnoMed also provides guidelines for interpreted visits and suggestions for collecting ethnographic data. On the Clerkship Web Page, you will find a direct link to Ethnomed in Cultural Competency section of the Student Guide. The URL for Ethnomed is:

http://ethnomed.org/

Many of the Family Medicine Clerkship sites serve significant numbers of Native American patients. Dr. Walt Hollow, a Native American family physician assembled a brief set of facts designed to help you learn some basic information about Native American cultures.

See Working Effectively with Native American Patients: Teaching Points.